Fleifel’s feature debut offers a gripping unconventional film experience that penetrates viewers’ consciousness for its entire duration. His direction & sophisticated approach to film form, evident in his previous works, create a real haunting experience that gets under the viewers’ skin and lingers beyond the theater. By utilizing Athen’s streets soundscapes, gritty realistic cinematography, raw exceptional performances and many creative choices both in front & behind the camera, the film conveys the unfathomable psychological and emotional weight of being displaced in an original manner. Fleifel is a talent to be reckoned.

It is a captivating drama thriller and buddy film that stands out from typical sensationalized immigrant, refugee and Palestinian narratives. Interweaving character depth with suspenseful events, the film immerses us in the intense disquieting individual realities of the exiled. It subtly forces viewers to see beyond the genocidal images we numbly scroll through – the ongoing systemic colonial war on the very fabric of Palestinian existence, trapping entire generations in the rubble of their stolen futures. — ZEINA SHANAAH